The Issue In Hartford's Mayoral Contest Is Race

October 27, 1993|By DON NOEL; Courant Political Columnist

"Race is an issue," said Mayor Carrie Saxon Perry Sunday on CT 93, the WFSB Channel 3 interview program. "We have to recognize it in order to defeat it." However, she added, "We're totally opposed to that being a part of any campaign."

Hogwash. Race is an explicit, central part of Perry's re-election campaign -- and an implicit part of challenger Michael P. Peters's campaign.

At community forums in the North End, Perry supporters have repeatedly implied that Peters is a tool of white South End politicians who would reverse the gains made by African-Americans in city government.

That charge was levelled at Peters from the audience at a debate in Blue Hills last week.

Peters was greeted by hoots and catcalls when he responded that candidates shouldn't be judged by their skin color.

Perry spoke up to quiet the catcalls -- but she did not distance herself from the original question.

Perry cannot perhaps control what her supporters say; but her own campaign literature plays on the same theme.

A flier distributed last weekend in the north half of the city warns that "things can get worse" if Perry's team is defeated, "along with her progressive programs for Hartford."

The first example of such programs: "appointing Jesse Campbell as the first African American Police Chief in Hartford's history."

The implication is that if Peters is elected, such progress might come to a halt. Nothing in Peters's record as chairman of the Redevelopment Agency and of the Civic Center Authority warrants such an implication.

Affirmative action -- creating opportunities for minorities in city employment and contracting -- is long-settled policy in Hartford.

What is no longer accepted is blatant political patronage -- jobs or contracts given to political allies.

Perry's record is one that confuses affirmative action with patronage.

The confusion is understandable. Patronage was for decades the life-blood of politics.

"To the victor belong the spoils" is a phrase coined in 1832. In 160 years since, there has been fitful progress toward a merit system.

Black politicians may understandably feel the spigot has been turned off just as they reach the tap. Merit selection robs them of political spoils that earlier ethnic minorities enjoyed on their way through American cities.

Perry in fact has tried to use patronage as much to shore up white allies in the South End as to reward her black North End core constituency. But she encourages the perception in the North End that she steers work mostly to African-Americans.

Fostering that perception is crucial because only the enthusiasm of African-American voters can save Perry from defeat.

Peters does not need to allude to race, even indirectly. Most non-black voters have given up on the mayor:

She swept an entire City Council to victory on her coattails two years ago -- but once in office could not hold the council together.

She campaigned for a simple charter change to give the mayor a vote on council -- and then insisted on a more sweeping charter referendum to create a strong mayor form of government. She lost the referendum by a wide margin.

Although often blocked, she and her city manager, Howard J. Stanback, have tried to award city contracts to political allies, both black and white.

The question Tuesday is how many black voters have given up on her.

Few analysts in either camp expect a significant vote from the North End for Peters nor even a large vote for council candidates who don't have Perry's endorsement.

The issue is, therefore, not how many will vote against Perry, but how many will sit this election out.

In a low North End turnout, Perry loses. So she must try to galvanize black voters by making them believe their empowerment is at stake.